Corporate Accountability & Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has advocated an end to safe water supply projects that have support from the World Bank and other international finance institutions, saying investigations have revealed they are designed to fail while benefiting states end up with huge debts.
This is the verdict of stakeholders who joined CAPPA at the launch of a new report which unveiled the failure of such World Bank-supported water projects in three states, Ekiti, Rivers, and Bauchi.
At the launch of the report titled ‘Big Debt Big Thirst: A Case Study of World Bank Supported Water Projects in Ekiti, Rivers and Bauchi States,’ the report revealed a systemic failure that compromises water access for millions of Nigerians.
The launch of the report in Lagos on Friday was organised by CAPPA, which investigated the water projects in the three focal states as well as authored the report.
The report examined the ongoing implications of privatisation reforms advocated by international financial institutions, particularly the World Bank, and reveals a disturbing pattern of systemic failures that continue to compromise water access for millions of Nigerians.
According to the Executive Director of CAPPA, Akinbode Oluwafemi, while public. discuss frequently attributes challenges of limited water to rapid population growth, climate change, ageing infrastructure and weak governance structures, “our research reveals that the water crisis cannot simplify be attributed to environmental or demographic pressures alone, “but also the predictable outcome of decades-long state withdrawal from public investment, coupled with the aggressive imposition of neoliberal policies falsely presented as pathways to development.”
Oluwafemi posited that water should remain a fundamental public good, universally accessible by right and should not be treated as a market-driven commodity, subject to the impersonal forces of profit-oriented supply and demand.
According to him, the empirical reality from Ekiti, Rivers, and Bauchi states tells a markedly different story. “Instead of improved water access and infrastructure, citizens experience steep tariff hikes, workforce downsizing, diminished public accountability, and continued systemic inefficiencies.”
